BUFFALO, NY - With a second-place finish at the 13-team Beast of the East Collegiate Classic in Newark, DE on Friday, University at Buffalo sophomore Mark McKnight (McDonald, PA/South Fayette) picked up his first Mid-American Conference Wrestler of the Week award of the year, the league office in Cleveland announced on Tuesday.

The 125-pounder, ranked 14th in the nation in the National Wrestling Coaches Association/Intermat poll, upped his career mark to 48-15 with his 3-1 performance at the Beast of the East.

McKnight breezed through his first two matches before escaping with a 3-1 win over The Citadel's Ryan McCleister in the semifinals. McKnight lost in the finals to Northwestern's John Velez, ranked 14th by WrestlingMall.com and 15th by Intermat, 4-3. It was McKnight's seventh loss of the year to a top-20 opponent.

McKnight is 14-7 on the season. McKnight won the award once last season, when as a true freshmen, he went 34-8 and was one of three Bulls to claim Mid-American Conference Individual Championships. He fell one rung short of All-American status, losing in the All-American round at the NCAA Championships. During the summer, McKnight competed at the U.S. Nationals, the U.S. Olympic Trials and won the gold medal in freestyle and bronze medal in Greco-Roman at the Junior Pan-American Games in Venezuela.

Already the fastest non-transfer in school history to reach 40 wins in a career, McKnight has a great chance at reaching 50 wins before 2005 rings in, as UB hosts the second annual UB Open on Thursday, Dec. 30. The tournament starts at 10:00 am.